European chip sales bounce back

European microchip sales recover slightly in July but still lag behind the global average, according to the latest figures.

World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) data for July released by The European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESCIA) shows the value of European chip sales increased four per cent to $3.2bn compared to July last year.

However, the latest Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) worldwide chip sales figures show a much stronger global growth average of 11.5 per cent. Worldwide sales were valued at $20.1bn in July - up 1.8 per cent from the $19.8bn in sales reported in June 2006.

The European figure is a slim 0.3 per cent increase on figures for June, and the first positive growth figure for three months.

ESCIA explained this slight sequential rebound of European sales (in dollar terms) after three months of decline by referring to increased sales of certain types of chips. Chips used for memory products such as DRAM and NAND flash memory lifted the overall sales figures for the region, as well as chips for logic products and Digital Signal Processors.

In global terms Europe was the worst performing region for chip sales during the month of July with SIA President George Scalise telling reporters that the pricing war between AMD and Intel, and Intel's backlog of old stock had impacted on European growth for the month.

"July sales reflect the historical pattern for the industry with growth in unit demand coupled with declining average selling prices. This trend helps make possible the very attractive prices for many consumer products. For example the average selling price for a PC declined by approximately per cent per cent year-over-year," Scalise said. Computer products represent over 40 per cent of demand for semiconductors.